Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

Dear parents,
I am writing an article on working parents or single working parents and where they leave their kids when they go to work. In India at least the concept of professional child care hasn't taken of. Many of us still rely on traditional support bases like MILs, or ayahs, etc. I wanted to know if there are other unconventional support systems we can tap into. Like other moms who are housewives and don't mind helping out with kids of working moms, or professional nannies-on-hire who take care of two or three kids together.
Also do any of you work in organisations that allow you to carry your kid to work or have flexi-timmings? It would really help me to get a real perspective. So working Parents please come forward to share your stories.
Love,
Smita Anisha replied. Hello Ma'am...
I am not a mother but a student who is in need of little information. I am a 12th std. student doing my comemrce in Dubai. I have a subject of Home Science and it will be a great favour to me if you could help me out. I have a projec of getting some information about a creche. As u have asked for information, i do hope you can help me. I need a name and locetion of a creche along with the followin information:
1) who runs the creche- pvt., state, voluntary org.
2) who are the beneficiaries- wht age children do they accept
3) number of worker- manager, workers
4) duration of stay of the child
5) fees for hal day and full day
6) age and sex of the child
7) distance from home- in kms ot hrs
8) monthly charges

I know it will be a little trouble for you, but it will be a greatt help to me. Hoping to get the information at your earliest. If you are willing to give me the above do mail it to me at: aniferns_88@yahoo.co.in
Anyone else also ready to help me can do so. Thankin You in Anticipation.

Yours Faithfully,
Anisha shivani replied. First of all as u rightly stated, concept of professional childcare is at its inceptions stage, but it did exist before too in the form of “palna ghars”. The only difference then was, that it was and to a great extent even now, isn’t managed professionally or service provided, doesn’t meet quality standards required. For this even our law system and scarsity of funds and loans available to this sector are responsible, as we do not have legal laws pertaining to this nor do we have quality and safety standards set. Most of all we as parents are not aware of quality childcare aspect.
The most common child care services available today are either home based day care center or center based day care centers(the way u stated that a housewife takes care of 3-4 children). In the first form the children are taken care by a care taker at home itself, whereas in the other form childcare services are provided at a professional center. this form also has taken the form of workplace center, where the kids are cared within the work premises. The draw back here is, most of the times the staff or authorities who provide childcare services aren’t qualified professionals and hence just “looking after” aspect is catered to, not overall care and development of the child. Even the same is applicable to worksite childcare center. These centers do not have even a consideration in annual company plans. I also found that the funds even if provided are mismanaged at times.
Other form is ayahs taking care of the child at home, but the concept of professionally qualified nannies doing so, doesn’t exist. 90% of the child, the maids or ayahs appointed to take care of the child aren’t qualified childcare professionals. This aspect at times leads to child abuse, as we even today follow the concept of “spare the rod and spoil the child”.
Other way of dealing with this question found by parents is residential schools or day time schools. These schools now a days have started with preschool programme, where they enroll kids at the age of 1 year and the kids tend to spend the entire day or say 8-9 hours a day at this school. The advantage here is that parents do not have to worry abt care for their kids as well as later these kids on completion of 3 years are enrolled in the nursery/regular school Programme automatically.
Activity centers and study centers are also quiet a famous way of dealing with after school care and time aspect of school going children. These centers take care of the kids after the school hours and engage their minds and energy in physical or mental activities and also take care of their homework/school studies. But these centers are mostly found in metros or bigger cities like Bombay.

This I hope will help u out in ur article. This is a brief account I thot wud be helpful to u from my findings or research or rather say I hope I have answered you questions . if u need any specific info or have any other queries related to this , I wud be glad to help u out with this. As I think kids out here need these kind of services and most of all quality care to grow up into healthy, balanced, sound human beings.

Love
shivani
shivani replied. Hi smita,
Its really nice to know about your article. I am really pleased that u r taking up this topic, as quality child care is a big question for many working parents, specially who live in nuclear families.My name is shivani, and am a childcare professional. I graduated as a bachelors student in field of child development and family studies and have worked in the field of childcare services, in India and US on voluntary basis, after my graduation .The areas of workI covered by me in childcare are, pre-school education both in rural and urban areas, day care centers, play and activity group.Now am myself in the process of establishing a day care center for children in the age group of 1-8 years, which will provide services aiming at the overall/wholistic development of the child, taking his age and development pace into consideration. For this I did undertake a research and survey in three cities in India, namely banglore, baroda(Gujarat), and pune, for a year. For this I visited, day care centers(both home based and center based, which included work place day care centers as well)and talked to the managing staff and authorities, observed their programme and services, pre-schools, primary schools and interviewed working parents and talked to them as well. I would be glad to share this information with you. I hope u benefit from it.
since this info wont fit here. i'll paste for u in parts...:) Patty replied. Hi Smita -
I am very interested in learning more about your article. I am a work/life benefits consultant in the USA and one of my clients might consider building a worksite childcare center in Bangalore (as they have supported childcare initiatives for their employees in the US and other parts of the globe). I am also on a fact finding mission to see what other large companies in India are doing to meet the needs of working mothers. I am having a lot of difficulty finding information. Have you identified any childcare programs at any companies yet? I have not, but I am happy to share information as I find it. Can you recommend any good resources?

Patty

Aboli replied. Dear Smita,
It is definitely a very good effort. Well, I don't know, how useful my information will be for you. Just thought of adding one more thing. My sis is a doctor and she is practicing at aurangabad. Well, I don't remember the name of the school, but for her 5 year old, the school offers some extra-curricular classes after the school. I felt this to be a real good concept. This will prevent the parents from running from one class to another. Also, I believe they have appointed a teacher who helps the kids with their homework and some studies. I really liked that concept. Let me know if I can be of any help to you in writing your article.

Love,
Aboli. Aboli replied. Dear Smita,
My full name is Meera Panpaliya and my daughter's name is Sargam. And I use to work for Motorola while in Bangalore. I would like to know more about your article. Could you give me some details about the same? Aboli replied. Dear Smita,
I am a mother of 3-1/2 year old. Now I am at US and sending my daughter at the Montessori school. The school is having child-care facility also i.e. after school hours they provide childcare. While in India, my daughter was just 5 months and I was working at Bangalore. Our company had a day care center. I use to keep my daughter in that day care. They use to charge very less fees. It being very close to my office, I use to go and nurse her twice a day. I think, in India too, in most of the metros, the concept of professional day care has taken base. Some of the big companies are making alliances with some professional day care chains to provide the facilities to their employees.